Letter to the editor: State commission takes important water step

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad speaks during a hearing to criticize a proposal from the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce the amount of ethanol that must be blended with gasoline in 2014, Thursday, Jan. 23, 2014, in Des Moines, Iowa. The EPA in November proposed reducing by nearly 3 billion gallons the amount of biofuels required to be blended into gasoline in 2014, prompting outcry by political leaders from both parties who claimed such a move would devastate Iowa's economy and cost thousands of jobs.

The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission took a step in the right direction when it signed the contract that requires the testing of 138 Iowa lakes. But was this a big enough step?

Fertilizer from farms has been washing into rivers - or, as some Iowans refer to them, drinking water - bringing nitrate levels to record highs. In some places, levels have risen as high as 7.6 milligrams per liter, nearly reaching the EPA standard of 10 milligrams per liter.

While Gov. Branstad seems content to "learn from these incidents," many Iowans recognize the negative health effects of high nitrate levels and see that citizens of our state should not have to pay the consequences of agricultural runoff. Providing more guidelines and incentives for Iowa farmers to decrease the amount of nitrates that are able to run into our drinking water is not just an environmental issue, but a health issue.

All Iowans should speak out and be active in obtaining and maintaining high quality drinking water.

- Jordan Carter, Waterloo

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

Email this article

Letter to the editor: State commission takes important water step

The Iowa Environmental Protection Commission took a step in the right direction when it signed the contract that requires the testing of 138 Iowa lakes. But was this a big enough step?